A long-standing mystery in astrophysics—where elements like gold come from—may be closer to being solved, thanks to decades-old data from NASA and the European Space Agency.
New analysis reveals that magnetars, a rare type of neutron star with intense magnetic fields, may have forged a significant portion of the universe’s heavy elements. The findings suggest these violent stellar remnants could be responsible for creating gold and similar materials during their explosive outbursts known as giant flares.
Rethinking the Origins of Gold
In the moments after the Big Bang, the universe produced only the lightest elements: hydrogen, helium, and a trace of lithium. Heavier elements formed later within stars. However, those heavier than iron—including gold, platinum, and uranium—have remained difficult to explain.
Now, a team led by Columbia University doctoral student Anirudh Patel has found evidence that up to 10 percent of these heavy elements could be created during giant flares from magnetars. These highly magnetized neutron stars release enormous energy bursts that may launch neutron-rich matter into space.
“It’s a pretty fundamental question in terms of the origin of complex matter in the universe,” said Patel.
The team published its results in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
What Exactly Is a Magnetar?
Neutron stars are the ultra-dense remnants of massive stars that exploded in supernovae. A single teaspoon of neutron star material would weigh over a billion tons. Magnetars are a subclass of these stars, notable for their extreme magnetic fields—trillions of times stronger than Earth’s.
Occasionally, a magnetar experiences a “starquake,” which cracks its crust and unleashes intense radiation bursts. These events, called giant flares, can even disturb Earth’s upper atmosphere despite occurring thousands of light-years away.
Only ten of these giant flares have ever been observed—three in our own galaxy and seven in nearby galaxies.
Gold-Building in Extreme Conditions
Heavy elements are thought to form through a process known as rapid neutron capture. In this process, atoms absorb large numbers of neutrons before undergoing nuclear decay, which transforms neutrons into protons and shifts the element’s identity on the periodic table.
In normal space environments, this process is rare. But inside or around a magnetar—where neutrons are densely packed—the conditions could allow these reactions to occur at lightning speed.
“Starquakes may provide a perfect storm,” explained co-author Brian Metzger, a senior research scientist at the Flatiron Institute. “Magnetars are full of neutrons, and when they flare, that matter may be ejected and immediately transformed into heavier elements like gold.”
This process would not just stop at gold. In the right settings, it could continue to forge even denser elements, including thorium and uranium.
Why Magnetars Might Matter More Than Colliding Stars
In 2017, scientists observed the collision of two neutron stars, confirming that these violent mergers can create heavy elements. However, those events occur relatively late in the universe’s timeline and don’t explain the presence of gold in ancient star systems.
Magnetars, on the other hand, formed earlier. Their powerful flares may have seeded the early galaxy with the raw materials that later became part of planets—and eventually, people.
Researchers including Jakub Cehula of Charles University and Todd Thompson of The Ohio State University have recently argued that these magnetar flares eject high-speed matter that could explain the early presence of heavy elements.
Finding a Hidden Signal in Archived Space Data
To support their theory, the research team turned to data from a 2004 magnetar giant flare. Using observations from ESA’s now-retired INTEGRAL gamma-ray observatory, as well as NASA’s RHESSI and Wind missions, they uncovered a faint but important signal.
While the main burst of the 2004 flare had already been studied, astrophysicist Eric Burns of Louisiana State University noticed something odd—a secondary gamma-ray emission that hadn’t been fully explained.
Remarkably, this signal matched predictions made by Patel and Metzger’s model for what a magnetar-generated heavy element flare would look like.
“At first, I thought they were joking,” Burns said. “But it was a nearly perfect fit.”
Gamma Rays Confirm the Theory
The gamma-ray spike spotted in the 2004 flare is now believed to be the fingerprint of heavy elements forming and being ejected from a magnetar. This type of emission hadn’t been previously linked to elemental formation, making the discovery a significant milestone.
“It’s answering one of the questions of the century,” said Burns. “And it came from data that was almost forgotten.”
The team also consulted with Jared Goldberg at the Flatiron Institute to further validate the findings using overlapping mission data from multiple spacecraft.
What Comes Next in the Magnetar Gold Rush
NASA’s upcoming COSI (Compton Spectrometer and Imager) mission, slated for launch in 2027, is expected to dig even deeper into these mysterious space phenomena. COSI is a gamma-ray telescope designed to capture wide-field cosmic events like magnetar flares.
The telescope will help identify individual elements produced in such events, offering even more direct proof that magnetars may be elemental forges.
In addition to COSI, the team plans to analyze more archival data, searching for similar signals hiding in plain sight.
A Universe Woven with Gold
The implications of the study are far-reaching. If correct, it means the gold found in jewelry, electronics, and even cell phones may have originated in a stellar explosion so powerful it changed the fabric of the galaxy.
“It’s wild to think that something in my phone could’ve come from a magnetar flare millions of years ago,” said Patel.
As new space missions continue to peer deeper into the cosmos, scientists are getting closer to answering one of the most fundamental questions in astronomy: Where does everything come from?
